Showing posts with label Ghana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ghana. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2009

Twi: A New Tongue to Me

Twi is the difficult-to-pronounce name of the language spoken in Ghana, West Africa. The English word for this language is Akan. I had my first lesson in Akan yesterday after church while talking to my friend Romeo.

I asked him how to say a greeting in his language, so he taught me to say "Atesei" (ah-tes-ay),  which means "Hi, how are you all." The response is then "Eye" (ay-yay), which means "fine" or "we are doing good."

Twi is pronounced in a way I have never heard before. It sounds something like Tschee, although no American sound can parallel it, which is why English speakers are told to say "Akan" instead.